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Funding for the 157 programs supported by the United Way of Central Ohio will be the same for
the second half of the year as it was for the first, the organization’s board decided
yesterday.

The board allocated $8.6 million for the programs, the same amount provided in the first six
months.

That was possible, said president and CEO Janet Jackson, because of a successful 2012
fundraising campaign. The campaign was over at the end of March.

Pledges for 2012 totaled $51.2 million, an increase of about 2.4 percent over 2011 but lower
than the $52.55 million goal.

Because “we can’t promise how much we’ll raise” in each campaign, projections for funding can be
uncertain, Jackson said. Mid-year adjustments sometimes are made.

United Way set a yearlong budget allocation for the 157 programs at the end of 2012, but the
board approved funding only for January through June.

“What we don’t want to do is promise an amount and then six months later have to cut it,”
spokesman Kermit Whitfield said.

No new programs were funded, and funding was not cut for any current programs.

Among the allocations for the final six months of the year: $1.3 million for
kindergarten-readiness programs, $2.1 million to promote high-school graduation, nearly $1 million
for emergency assistance and $1.3 million to increase financial stability.

The largest single program allocation in each of those areas is $170,000 to the South Side
Learning & Development Center for early care and education, $172,500 to Big Brothers/Big
Sisters for youth mentoring, $322,000 to the Community Shelter Board for its shelter network and
$153,600 to Goodwill Columbus for work-forces development.

Board member Mary Jo Hudson said she hopes the board will keep in mind its nondiscrimination
policy as it makes funding decisions. Under that policy, funded programs cannot discriminate based
on factors that include age, gender identity, race, sex and sexual orientation.

Hudson, a gay community activist and a former Columbus City Council member, would not comment
further after the meeting.

One funded program, Learning for Life, is sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America. The Boy Scouts
ban gay Scouts and adult leaders but are voting Thursday at a national convention on a proposal to
admit gay youths.

Whitfield said Learning for Life is an in-school program that builds life skills for both boys
and girls.